Negative-Energy/Warp Drive
"The student approached three masters and asked of them a question: 'Masters, how will I know when I have arrived?' The Philosopher Replied: 'Only when you look back at the path traveled will you know.' The Priest said: 'The divine always has us where we need to be so you have always been there.' The Engineer then spoke up: 'When all the Red lights turn Green and the warning alarm shuts off works for me.'" ~A Philospher, a Priest and an Engineer walk into a bar, Vol II ---- What it is Fundamentally the Negative Energy or Vulgar "Warp" drive Creates a Ring or field around the ship that then applies negative energy to warp the fabric of Space-time "Ahead" And "behind" the field. Causing the area ahead of the field to collapse, while the area behind expands. The Craft itself doesn't "Move" within this area, instead the area within the field would effectively be stationary, while the universe outside of it shifts and moves according to the course desired. Numerous examples have been used to describe how this effect works. From coiled springs to inflated containers with gas inside that can collapse and inflate at different vectors. Though the easiest for most to Visualize is the Liquid wave demonstration. If one imagines the ship as a man-made Buoyant material (Such as a plastic bottle or wooden carving) placed on a long canal of water. The forming of the field can be viewed as the area around the object being "Flash frozen" (And thus still being water in function, however locked in state with the object still suspended in it). The application of Negative Energy is similar to the Canal of water having a "Wave" generator started up which causes a depression in front of the frozen section, and a rise "behind" it which forces the "craft" Along the canal with compressed water ahead and more water building behind. At the far end of the canal the wave stops and evens back out while the frozen block is free to melt back into water and the entire channel returns to normal. With the Water being replaced by Three-dimensional space-time, and the wave generation being cause by the natural reaction of the "water" to the application of negative energy, and that is in essence how a warp drive works. After the negative energy ceases to be applied, due to the nature of space-time the area within the field remains stationary as the area that had collapsed and expanded in front and behind the craft evens itself back out. Leaving the craft to move about at Sublight speeds at the new destination never technically having itself moved faster than light, merely causing Space time around it to move at those speeds. Unlike a lot of other types of Translight drives that bypass the laws of Physical space, the warp-drive exploits a natural response based on those laws itself. One of the reasons sometimes you'll hear a physicist refer to them as "loophole drives", because they exploit a loophole in natural law. ---- Benefits and Drawbacks Since the Warp drive doesn't rely on extra-dimensular physics, jumping between dimensions and the ship itself remains relatively stable within it's own little field of space-time while the universe expands and compresses around it, it's generally considered a safer way for the passengers and cargo to travel from system to system. The system is, however, complex and high maintenance. Everything from the use of exotic matter to a high enough power source to the creation of the negative energy field, and stabilizing the field itself requires a great deal of technical skill, to the point that Warp Engineers are almost as exclusive a category of technicians as prescient capable navigators are. Additionally, there is a speed limitation still, as there is only so much space that can remain compressed or expanded at any one time making avenues of transit somewhat longer than other types of Translight drives. There is a peak of energy at various points along the Curve that reaches exponential, where to continue accelerating to a certain point reaches a point of needing infinite energy, which makes travel above a certain "factor" impossible. Finally, not only can spacial distortions and other types of phenomena cause the stabilizing field to fluctuate and sometimes collapse, it is also believed that certain areas (if not the entirety of) Space time are less malleable or have less "give" in the amount of warping stress they can handle. Thus the use of high energy warp drive in these areas can cause all manner of tears or anomalies to form which can be disastrous or even deadly to the ship and if it's within a populated sector, to the inhabitants or those just passing through. To avoid this misfortune a lot of agencies place a limit on their cruising speed (or the amount of energy that can be applied at once to a field) except in times of emergency, or even have regulations banning it's use anywhere within a certain distance of an area known to be "fragile" or their populated systems, requiring warp-capable craft to travel at sublight speeds to that distance before engaging their translight drive.